The Thanksgiving leftovers are gone. The Black Friday discounts have been had. And that could only mean one thing: The holiday season is upon us.
Yes. The holidays.
People all over are starting to adorn their homes with colored lights, and put candles and/or menorahs in their windows. The holiday music is playing around the clock on the radio. And once empty lots are now full of Christmas trees. My friends are even tweeting pictures of their already decorated trees.
Now, it’s time for me to get in the holiday spirit.
I’m not much for outside lights, but I’m already humming Christmas carols. All I need now is a tree.
I grew up with artificial trees.
As a child, I remember waiting for the adults in the house to assemble the tree and string the lights so I could help hang the ornaments. I loved those times. When you’re that small, a six foot tree seems like a tall oak. The branches seem fuller. The lights seem brighter. And it seems like there are more ornaments than you could ever count. Everything is larger than life.
As an adult, my tree trimming experiences are totally different. Since I’m almost as tall as that six foot tree, nothing seems larger than life. The branches don’t seem as full, and we can clearly count all the ornaments.
It’s funny how your perspective on things changes when you get older.
If you were anything like me as a child, you probably thought your parents and grandparents were perfect, your teachers were the smartest people in the world, and people on TV had the most glamorous lives EVER.
I could be anything, if I just said it.
And my biggest problems were having to eat all my vegetables and having to endure naptime at school.
But things change. The way you see them change.
Now I know that nobody’s perfect, and we’re all just people trying to live our lives as best we can. We all have problems. We all have periods of trial. And I acknowledge that nothing comes without work…on somebody’s part. I even realize that rest and vegetables are needed to keep us working, to keep us healthy, to keep us strong.
I’m sure, as life goes on, I’ll reach other levels, face other trials, and gain more wisdom.
But it’s all about growing and changing your perspective when the time comes.
